It was Alec
by Isabelle8888
Summary: Max and Alec enter a new phase of Manticore's plans, they both realize it's worse then heat, neither deal with it too well and start to lose control. MA and SylAlec friendship.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

Alec laid in bed that night and knew something was different. A certain brunette wouldn't escape his mind; it was as if he didn't have a choice. He smiled grimly as it hit him, what was going on; It was beginning.

He sat up and regained control of his thoughts, "I can fight this." He said sure of himself but a small part reminded him it wouldn't be that easy, nothing Manticore ever was.

~*~

Max left Logan's apartment feeling defeated that afternoon. Again they came up empty trying to find someone that could help and get rid of the damned virus that held them back from being together. The only chance they had before was ruined when the good doctor skipped town but not before saving Alec's life.

She felt her muscles tighten with anger, she knew he didn't have a choice up against White but she couldn't help but blame him for the sadness she felt about not being able to be with Logan.

She went to Crash to meet up with Original Cindy and a cold beer, maybe that would help make the day not a total waste.

"Damn boo who hit you with a truck?" OC asked.

Max sat down at the counter and sighed. "I wish it was a truck." She found physical pain better then emotional, there was more control when it came to her body then her mind. "I'm starting to think this thing with me and Logan isn't meant to be."

OC placed her hand over her friends. "If you want it to be then it will, it'll take time maybe a lot of time but have faith you guys can make it through this, Original Cindy knows these things."

Max smiled slightly, as she started to feel a little better Alec walked in worsening her mood if that was possible. "I'm not feeling to great I think I'm gonna go home and try and catch some Z's." she left her stool and headed for the door quickly.

"Whoa Maxie you're gonna run someone down with that speed." Alec commented as his hands landed on her forearms so she couldn't walk into him. Big mistake, he quickly dropped his hands.

Max was going to say something but noticed he wouldn't look at her. "What's going on with you?" she asked and saved the bitchy comeback for later.

Alec ran his hand over his hair. "Me? Nothing. You're the one running out of here like your ass is on fire." he said with a shrug. "Sketchy is waiting to get his ass whupped at pool, see ya Maxie." he walked away.

Max watched him go and knew something was going on but she didn't have an answer as to what. She shook her head and left, she didn't care what Alec could be going through she had her own very serious problems to deal with. Max rode around on her bike for awhile hoping to clear her head. Tomorrow was a new day in the fight to stay alive and sane.

~*~

"Damn Manticore and their stupid ideas…" Alec mumbled as he walked home that night with his hands in his pockets.

Lately he had found some sort of common ground with Max, they didn't fight as much and she didn't look at him with pure anger in her eyes since that day she broke down talking about Ben. It was as if they both realized they were also human.

Now it was all going out the window, something was upsetting her, he guessed the virus and Logan was reaching its toll and now it would only get worse when symptoms would start hitting her. It was just the luck of the draw he was feeling them first.

"Yeah Manticore was just full of bright ideas."

Alec turned his head and saw a female outline in the shadows, it was no mystery how she heard him, transgenics heard everything. "And you are?"

"A friend of a friend."

~*~

The next day Alec found himself eager to get to work when he entered Jam Pony instead of chatting and prolonging the job. Too much energy, he thought, much more then normal considering he didn't get much sleep last night.

Max on the other hand seemed to have none; she dragged herself to the lockers and sat down on the empty bench where OC stood. "OC does not like seeing her girl so down, maybe you should get out of here I'll cover with Normal."

"Nah." Max answered. "I have nothing better to do so why not work?"

Both girls walked out together after Normal gave them their deliveries. Max turned toward the street at the sound of her name, her eyes widened. "Syl?"

The day seemed to have more in store then Max could've imagined.

_

Isabelle A.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

"Hey." Syl exclaimed as she hugged her honoree sister.

Max felt much better; having family around always lifted her mood. "What are you doing here?"

"With Zack out of commission on that farm and everyone shattered all over the place whereabouts unknown I was feeling a little displaced myself. I knew you'd still be in Seattle after I learned you were still alive so I decided why not come hang with my sister?" Syl explained as they stood at the opening of Jam Pony.

"It's good to have you around, someone from back then part of my family. There's a lot going on here. I'll fill you in later though." Max said remembering where they were. She groaned when Alec walked past them.

But he stopped and turned around. "Friend of a friend huh?"

Syl smiled. "So Max considers you an ass, that's friendship." She said, she knew of Alec and the whole Manticore fire when she and Max spoke on the phone months ago, that's when she decided she needed to go be with her own kind.

"I'm off to work." Alec said riding away. Women were complicated, transgenic women; a lost cause when it came to trying to figure them out.

Max looked at her sister. "How do you know Alec?" she asked with a slight edge to her voice fearing the answer.

"I ran into him last night, I knew it was him because of the whole having-Ben's-face thing so I introduced myself but I didn't mention knowing you till now. We did some talking about Manticore and hate for them." Syl explained as they started to walk away from the establishment.

"That's it?" Max casually asked. "You just talked?"

Syl smiled. "Yeah he's a big flirt I picked up on that but no nothing happened. It's a little weird plus I'm not into my own kind romantically. He was easy to talk to, we hit it off. He's a good guy."

Max looked at Syl and raised her eyebrow. "If you say so."

~*~

Later that day everyone met at Crash, Max introduced Syl to everyone as her out of town cousin and not sister since they looked nothing alike. An hour later everyone broke up and either went to play pool or drink with someone new they had met.

Syl and Max sat at the counter with a beer in front of them. "Do you have a place to stay yet?"

"Nah not yet, I got into town yesterday and crashed at a motel that passed it's self more like a rat hole."

"We don't have much room but you can stay with OC and me, I know she won't mind." Max suggested not noticing they weren't alone anymore.

"Or," Alec began as he leaned on the counter next to Syl. "I have an extra room, stay with me."

"No!" Max objected before Syl could even think of the offer.

"Maxie's afraid I'll try and get into your pants." Alec said looking at Syl grinning at Max's fury that he might taint her sister. "And I might but I do have the extra room and we already get along so what do you say?"

"Max." Syl said before she could protest again, once she knew Max wasn't going to say anything she turned back to her left and looked at Alec, she knew exactly what he was doing and why having talked to him the night before, she picked up on why he was so angry. "Ok," she decided she was going to help even though it would piss Max off for awhile. "I'll stay at your place."

"Syl!" Max exclaimed, it couldn't be real it had to be part of the bad dream she was living the last few days. When she was going to finally wake up, she wondered knowing it was just hope and it was her life.

"Don't worry Max I'm a big girl. Alec will keep his hands to himself anyway, he's taken."

Alec looked at the girl with wide eyes, what the hell did she know? She was an 09er, she couldn't know of all the new tricks Manticore pulled as the years went by. But as he met her eyes he saw he was wrong, she knew quite a lot which also meant she knew what he was trying to pull.

Hmm this living arrangement is going to be interesting, he thought with a grin. He glanced at Max who was furious, the plan already working.

-

Isabelle A.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Alec watched Syl sitting on the sofa flipping though the channels on the TV. "What do you know?" he asked with his arms crossed as he stood next to the sofa.

Syl looked up at him and smiled innocently. "About what?"

Alec walked over to the TV and turned it off. "Rent's free for the next two months if you start talking now."

Syl sighed unable to pass up the deal. "It happened to me so I noticed it on you last night, as we talked I became sure then at Crash with Max I noticed she wasn't feeling it yet so I decided to help you out." She sat forward on the sofa as she grew serious. "We all had kept contact with Zack and followed his orders, Max didn't. When we got older he explained to us the genetic pattern matches Manticore implanted in all of us to match our mates. They linked us as children by choosing the perfect DNA for each other. Then they moved on to install pheromones and pretty much planted feelings for each other so no matter what we'd want each other and be together."

Alec nodded, he had known all about it but never pegged Max was his perfect match. "None of it's real, all these feelings are planted. Over night you're suddenly drawn to this person, you can't get them out of your head."

"It's worse then heat. With heat you wanted anyone you hoped could satisfy your desires. With this it's directed at one person and you can't shake it no matter how far the person is. Manticore really made sure their hopes and dreams continued no matter what." Syl explained. It was a forced breeding program, some maybe didn't notice it but some did and it caused their lives to be turned upside down. Syl frowned and sat back and thought of how the pattern matches ruined her life.

"Who's yours?"

"Someone from my unit, we stayed together after everything went haywire and Max was recaptured again. Krit, one day we were all over each other and knew it was too sudden. He remembered what Zack had warned us about. I left and came here." Syl blankly explained not letting herself invest anymore emotion into the facts she couldn't change.

Alec joined her on the sofa. "Why leave? You were friends; you didn't hate each other so why not just cross that line and stay there?"

"It was weird; he's like a brother to me. We always remained close and watched each other grow up. We just couldn't cross that line."

"So the feelings don't cloud your full judgment you made the choice to leave because you know it's wrong." Alec voiced trying to find hope for himself.

Syl smiled sadly. "It was still the early stages but as time goes on it worsens. You know Manticore better then any of us since you were there longer; you know they make everything as extreme as they could to make sure the results pan out the way they want. Sadistic assholes."

Alec rested his head on the back of the sofa. "I'm screwed."

Syl laughed. "If you think its bad now just wait until Max starts feeling it. Knowing her it'll fuel her hate for you more because she doesn't understand it."

"Great more Max hate, just what I want."

~*~

Max laid in her bed staring at the ceiling, her thoughts wouldn't let her sleep. She thought of Syl and Alec, she knew the type of womanizing man he was, she was just worried for Syl, that's all. Or so she tried to convince herself, there was this underlining feeling that felt a lot like jealously. "But why?" she softly asked in the dark room.

She shook her head, which just made no damn sense, jealously? Come on it's Alec, she reminded herself. She still didn't feel better knowing Alec and Sly were alone in his apartment. What were they doing?

That last thought sent her into a frenzy.

The next morning Max felt tense, her body stiff. She blamed it on the lack of sleep. She rode to Jam Pony with OC, as soon as they walked in the sound of laughter caught her attention. She spotted Alec and Syl near the lockers.

OC grabbed her arm when she noticed she was ready to blow. "Like she told you yesterday boo, she's a big girl and she ain't stupid. Just let them be hon before your head explodes."

Max nodded at her friend. She was right, of course she was right she was OC, Max thought as she walked to her locker and tried her hardest not to let the duo inches from her get under her skin.

She slammed her locker closed with such force it nearly came off the hinges, she walked away and grabbed some packages off the counter and left.

~*~

"You're plan to piss her off to distract the genetic pattern links you share wont work forever you know." Syl warned as they stood alone.

"Working so far, she wants to kill me for hanging out with you. I'd rather her be like that since it's pretty much our normal relationship then suddenly we want to jump each others bones." Alec explained as they walked out together.

"It's not that easy, lust is just one of the emotions, there's want and love. You're destined to spend the rest of your life with this person, give them your all."

"Yeah right like that's going to happen. No I have control, I'm my own person, and I can control this. Manticore can't tell me how to feel anymore." Alec sternly said making himself believe it was true and could be done, it had to work.

"Easier said then done."

-

Isabelle A.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

"What are you doing with my sister?" Max demanded as she cornered Alec outside of Jam Pony when his shift ended.

Alec jumped slightly. "Whoa Maxie, stalking isn't the way to get what you want." He said walking away to his bike.

Max was quick on his heels. "Just answer."

Alec sighed, she wasn't going to let him leave without a fight. "What's it to you?" he of course couldn't make this easy and just ease her concern and tell the truth. He had to push her buttons, the day just wasn't completely unless they got into some kind of argument. It might also help matters.

Max crossed her arms. "She's not just some girl you do and ditch, she's family to me and I won't have you using her."

Alec inhaled sharply. "Wow is that what you really think of me? Get off your high horse Max; people are capable of making their own choices without you monitoring their every move. Syl is a grown woman. Not that it's any of your business but nothing is going on, that's not even on our minds, she needed a place to stay and I could use someone to talk to. It worked out, we're friends even though you believe that's impossible." He hadn't planned on saying much but he wasn't the only one pushing buttons.

Max narrowed her eyes; it was never her first choice to trust Alec. "Talk to about what?"

This girl doesn't know how to give up, Alec thought. "My growing feelings for you I just _can't_ control."

Max rolled her eyes. "Can't you ever be serious?"

Alec shook his head walking away from the fuming transgenic. "Not everyone can be perfect." He sighed with relief she didn't decide to keep pushing and follow him. He rode straight home having no urge to do anything else. The new developments in his genes were a real bummer when it came to thoughts of other women and going out.

"Bad day?" Syl asked from the sofa as Alec shut the door.

"Fine until fifteen minutes ago. Max cornered me outside of Jam Pony demanding answers about us." Alec explained as he sat down. "It's getting worse, I nearly jumped her in the middle of her speech about not using you."

"She's always been pretty protective. Oh! You know what you can do so she'll stop getting on your case about me and it'll push her away and maybe delay her feelings; tell her you're gay."

Alec laughed so hard it began to hurt. As he looked at her face and saw she was serious, he laughed again. "Thanks for that, I needed a good laugh. Cute plan you have there but it'll never work. I don't want it to work. I just want my life back." He said growing serious again. "Do you think there's a way?"

"If there is, I haven't found it and trust me I've looked."

~*~

OC left to Crash, she tried for an hour to change Max's mind and have her come along but Max just wanted to stay home, catch up on some alone time, she explained. Once her roommate was gone she decided a long warm bath was in order.

As the pots of water boiled she took a seat and let her thoughts invade her mind. Her brief talk with Alec was a subject she couldn't shake; it wasn't so much what was said but his actions. He didn't look at her once; there were no Smart Alec type comments he was known for except the joke about feelings, even which had been too serious, too unlike him.

She was a little worried, why the change? "Why do I care?" she asked aloud. "It's Alec; he could fall off the face of the planet. That might make my day." She finished getting her bath ready and decided to put her focus to something else.

Logan, yes Logan was a good subject. Or maybe not, as she thought of him and the fact they couldn't be together her mood just worsened. She started to think her day couldn't get worse.

-

"Spoke too soon." She said with a sigh as there was a knock on the door. She grabbed a robe and left the bathtub. "What?" she asked swinging the door open.

"Did you know it was me or are you just bitchy to everyone?"

Max groaned as he came inside. "Alec, what do you want?" she shut the door so all the neighbors wouldn't have to hear the bantering she was sure they were going to get into.

Alec turned around in the living room. "I was bored, thought I'd stop by."

Max scoffed. "I'm your amusement now?" she asked walking past him.

His arm latched around her waist, his lips near her ear. "You can be."

Max looked up into his hazel hypnotizing eyes and lost the ability to breathe. "What do you have in mind?"

Alec gave her his world famous grin with his eyes locked on hers, his hand slid down the valley of her breasts to the knot of her robe. Slowly he opened it, "Expecting anyone else tonight?"

Max's body shuddered with anticipation. "No, why?"

Alec pulled the robe open, slightly down her shoulders. "This is gonna take awhile." he promised before leaning down and capturing her lips into a feverish kiss. He wrapped his arm back around her waist and pulled her against him. In one swift motion he lifted her into his arms and headed toward her room.

He laid her down on the bed and pulled off his t-shirt before kissing her again. Max pulled him down on the bed and looked at him with dark intense eyes filled with desire. "Took you long enough to come over."

-

Max bolted upright in the bathtub. "What the hell was that?!" she demanded wishing something would answer her, help make sense of what she had dreamt. She was pulled away from her thoughts when there was a knock on the door. She sharply turned around. "Oh god." She left the bathroom and took an extra minute to tossed on some clothes, "Please don't be him." She begged noticing her hands were shaking as she reached for the locks. "Logan."

~*~

Alec shifted in his sleep. Earlier he had given up and just decided to catch up on sleep since he had no willpower to do anything else fearing he'd run into Max. But apparently he couldn't escape her even when he tried; she was even in his dreams.

He sat up right and ran a hand through his hair. The dream was so vivid in his mind; it was as if he could still feel the material of the robe on his hands. "I can't do this anymore."

-

Isabelle A.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

Max sat on the opposite side of the sofa of Logan was he explained why he came over instead of called like he normally did. It was important, as soon as he said those words she knew it had something to do with Eyes Only. She was mindlessly listening, she just couldn't focus.

Her ears took notice when he said. "Maybe you should ask Alec to tag along, it could get dangerous."

"Wh—what?" Max sputtered. "No that's not a good idea."

Logan looked at her and noticed her expression was different, she looked…confused, flushed. "Why not?" he couldn't help but wonder if he was missing something.

Max sighed and did some quick thinking. "This whole Syl thing has us on the outs. Being around Alec right now is my idea of hell." She explained, her body protesting her words, wishing he was near. _I'm going crazy, that's it I've finally snapped._

Logan nodded slowly. "Ok. You guys are always fighting though, it'd be safer if you had some back up. There's a lot of security, both technical and physical."

"Physical…" her tone was barely a whisper as her mind flashed back to the dream, his lips….

"Max? Max?"

"Huh?" Max jumped up and pinched her leg out of sight, the pain helped clear her mind. "Yeah, sorry. What night is the job?"

"As soon as possible, tonight would be best. About Alec, do you want me to call him or you'll do it?"

Max wanted to get off the subject and couldn't seem to convince Logan she was fine alone. "I'll do it." she decided it was just some freaky dream but she was fine now, all images faded from her mind. She was sure they could pull off some job without it being awkward. Plus it wasn't as if he had some weird sex dream and couldn't handle being around her.

~*~

Alec sat in his kitchen with a beer in hand. Sleep was out of the question. "Life sucks." He banged his head down on the table and did it again and again until he heard a bang that wasn't from his head. He left the kitchen, tossed the bottle out before opening the door. He literally felt his heart stop, just great. "Max to what do I owe the pleasure?" He silently groaned, wrong word to use.

Max crossed her arms, her angry face in place. "I need to talk to you."

"Yeah sure come in." he flatly said once she pushed past him and came in. "What's going on?"

Max finally looked at him trusting herself to do so. It was a mistake. As she stared into his hazel green orbs she was unable to speak.

"Max!" Syl exclaimed coming from her room. "What brings you by?" she asked stepping between the two transgenics before they'd do something she knew they'd regret.

Max shook her head, at the sight of Syl all her anger about their situation came back causing her to find clarity again. She looked Alec's way, "Logan has a job for Eyes Only he needs help with. It's a two man job."

"That's not a good idea." Syl jumped in again. "Alec's sick."

Max looked at her sister. "Sick? Mentally? If so that's nothing new." She commented; glad to find her niche again with Alec, banter, one liners, felt like home.

"No, sick, sick flu type." Syl slapped him on the arm; he coughed catching on to her plan. "See? Not good to go out. Hey I'll go with you; it'll give us a chance to catch up while doing what we're good at."

Max wanted to argue the fact she knew they were lying but she didn't have a reason to push the issue. It was Alec; she didn't want him to go anyway. "Ok, fine, I'll meet you downstairs."

"Thanks." Alec said once Max was gone.

"I can't save you forever. It looks like she's feeling it too. I think you should tell her what's going on. Maybe come up with a plan." Syl suggested.

"A plan?"

"A plan to stay away from each other or something, I don't know. I can't come up with everything." Syl snapped as she left to go get ready for her mission with Max.

Alec was feeling desperate, it wasn't a feeling he handled well. Once he was alone in his apartment he began to pace, he needed to fix this mess somehow. He went to his room and pulled his boots on and grabbed his keys.

"Alec what are you doing here, shouldn't you be with Max?"

"Apparently. No Syl joined her on the job. I need your help with something." He arrived at Logan's with record speed, he had a plan and needed to act before he chickened out and realized it very well could be a bad plan.

Logan looked at the other man and noticed his expression mirrored Max's earlier. "With what?"

Alec sighed, here goes nothing. "I need to find one of the docs from Manticore before I do something we'll both regret."

-

Isabelle A.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Thanks for the reviews, I went back and fixed Syl's name.

_**Chapter 6**_

Since she barely heard the detail of the job Max was surprised and very pissed off that it involved going through the sewers. A waste of a good bath, she thought walking through the filth. Her mind drifted back to the relaxing bath, the dream….

"You ok?" Syl questioned when she heard Max groan as she walked in front of her.

"I'm losing my mind, I'm sure of it."

A wave of guilt flooded Syl's chest, she knew if she was in Max's shoes she'd need the truth, she was glad when it all hit she knew what she was dealing with. She sighed heavily, "No you're not going crazy. It all makes sense, sort of when you get the whole story."

Max stopped and turned to face the other woman. "What do you mean?"

~*~

Alec sat on the arm rest of a near by chair as Logan was shocked silent. He watched the other man and wondered how long it was possible for him to stay that way; it had nearly been half hour. He decided it to think of it from Logan's point of view, yeah it sucked but he wouldn't just freeze. "Logan!" he yelled right in his face.

Logan snapped out of his daze and adjusted his glasses. "What just happened?"

"No it wasn't a dream, what I said was real and you froze like a deer in the headlights. So you gonna help me or what?" Alec wasn't big on patience in that moment; he had his own issues and feelings to deal with.

"Yes of course, we have to fix this before Max finds out."

"My sentiments exactly." He agreed, both leaving the unspoken truth in the air. They had to fix it before it became unbearable and the unforgivable mistake was made.

Logan sighed and turned to his computer. "I'll get a hold of some contacts see what I can find. Until then maybe you should take a trip out of town, get away for awhile."

Alec shook his head. "I can't do that, I have my place and my job and as crazy as it is I'm happy here. If I run Manticore wins, it puts them back in control." He tightly explained, there were things he couldn't control but he still had control on how he led his life.

"Alec this isn't about pride----"

"Logan please the next job you give me let's leave out the sewers." Max said as she walked inside the penthouse along with Syl. "You." she hissed when her eyes landed on Alec.

"Whatever it is I didn't do it." Alec said in his defense and then noticed Syl's wide eyed expression. "You didn't."

"Um," Syl looked away from his intense accusing eyes. "She has a right to know, wouldn't you want to know?"

"No! I want to be blissfully ignorant and go back to a time none of this was a problem." Alec snapped, he sighed and ran his hand though his hair. "Damn Manticore, screwing me from the grave." He softly said more to himself.

"It's not all about you; you're not the only one being screwed." Max countered. Having learned the truth made her very angry at Alec, she welcomed it and hoped it continued rather then those confusing feelings planted in her system that made her want to pull her own hair out.

"You wanna play the game who's being screwed the hardest? I'll win trust me."

"Can we stop saying the word 'screw?'" Logan spoke.

Max had forgotten he was there, she looked at him and it dawned on her. "You know, Alec told you." she hadn't questioned why he was there until the truth hit her. "Why would you tell him something like this?" she demanded from Alec.

"I need help and Logan here has connections. You were never supposed to find out." Alec said, sending a glance to Syl.

"Help with what?"

"The good docs at Manticore put this in us maybe they can take it out."

Max nodded slowly. "That would be good."

Logan spoke again. "As I was telling Alec before, maybe one of you should leave town until something can be figured out. It's not safe to be around each other." It pained him to say, a part of him still hoped it was a bad nightmare and the woman he loved wasn't drawn to another man that could give her everything he couldn't; passion, touch, the thoughts were silently killing him.

"We're around each other now and it's fine." Alec pointed out. "Max hates me, it won't be easy for that to just change and it's still the early stages. We have enough time to track someone from Manticore and find out if this can be reversed."

"And if not?" Logan asked.

Alec shrugged. "Then I'll gladly leave town." It was the last thing he wanted but if it came down to it he couldn't ask Max to go, it was her home longer, and she had a whole world there. "Now that that's cleared up I'll leave you love birds alone. Head home and annoy Syl until her ears bleed." He hopped off the armrest and neared the blonde transgenic. "Shall we?" he said with a humorless grin as he pulled her arm.

"I stand by my choice, it's better she knows."

"Sure, right, whatever you say."

Max watched the pair go and knew the jealously pumping through her veins was just Manticore's sick joke, it wasn't real. It's not real, she kept saying in her mind as she crossed her arms so tight it began to ache.

"Max?" Logan called out. "How'd the job go?" he asked in search of some normalcy to the evening.

Max absently pulled the discs from her jacket and placed them near the computer. "Went down without a hitch."

"Max, we'll fix this."

Max finally focused on the man before her. "What?"

"This thing with Alec, it isn't real you both know that. Someway we'll fix this and life will go back to normal." Logan explained.

Max was silent. Normal, she thought of the word, there was nothing normal in her life, she wasn't even happy with her life. She couldn't touch the man she loved, she was having erotic fantasies about a man she considered a friend but couldn't stand mostly, her job wasn't anything to write home about, and she loved her friends but was that really enough to be considered happy? The thoughts just depressed her.

She noticed Logan watching her, she planted a smile on her face. "I know, if you find anything out call me. I should head home and get some sleep." She waved goodbye and left the penthouse.

_

Isabelle A.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

While Logan worked endlessly trying to find a doctor from Manticore, Max and Alec kept away from each other. Not even so much as a passing at work. But that didn't help the problem. Each passing night the dreams were intense and sometimes just too real.

Alec having it worse; simply went to work because he had to and stayed home locked in his room. "A week and Logan still hasn't found anything? He's really lacking, you'd think he'd want this over and done with." He sat on the floor with his back against the wall and looked up when Syl appeared at the doorway.

"You're going to drive yourself crazy staying in here." Syl crossed her arms and nearly shook her head at the sight of him. She knew he was torturing himself with images and thoughts of what he couldn't have and the fact he knew it was wrong but couldn't fight it. The more you tried to fight the worse it got. Nightly she learned that the hard way.

"You're right. I should do something; waiting on Logan is like waiting for paint to dry." Lately his temper was short when it came to Logan, just another Manticore side effect he kept telling himself. Logan was with Max, sort of, that taunted his forced jealously nothing more he was sure. "I need to do a little digging of my own."

Syl watched him go and hoped for everyone's sake he could find something.

~*~

"Crash tonight?" OC asked putting the last touches of paint on her nails as Max walked in the door.

She sighed. "I don't know." There was an underline fear of running into Alec although he wasn't around the last week except for work and some days she didn't even see him then.

"How'd it go at Logan's?" OC asked knowing that's where her friend had come from.

Max took a seat next to OC on the sofa. "Still no break way with this bitch. Manticore's docs are also a high risk, I'm sure White's people want them found. I guess they aren't stupid because there's not a trace." She sadly explained. But she kept hope; she needed hope because if she gave up she'd lose her mind. The emotions pulling her were just too strong to fight.

"This will all be over in done with, just give it a little time."

"I don't have time!" Max lowered her face into her hands and groaned. "It's like heat but a hundred times worse."

"Damn boo."

She looked up with fear in her eyes. "I want him so bad."

Her friend was suffering and she felt for her but it was so hard not to laugh in that moment. She knew Max might bite her head off but she asked anyway, "Would it really be that bad?"

"Yes! Its Alec remember I can't stand him. And I'm with Logan, sort of, we're still trying to work on getting rid of the virus and being together. This Alec mess is just that; a damn freakin mess!" Max took a deep breath and calmed down. "It's just Manticore's sick joke, once this is over it'll be like before, no weird feelings."

"Ok what we need to do it take your mind off of it, that's why you have to come with me to Crash. I ain't taking no for an answer, let's go."

After an hour of some much needed primping on Max's part they strolled inside Crash together quickly meeting up with Sketchy at a pool table where Syl was kicking his ass at pool. Poor boy will never learn, OC thought with a slight shake of her head.

After Syl pocketed her winnings she went with Max to get drinks while Sketchy groaned about losing again. "Hey how you feeling?" she asked as they sat at the counter.

"You don't have to keep asking, I'm fine."

"I'm going to forgive your snarky-ness since I know how frustrated you are."

"I'm sorry I keep forgetting you have the same problem." Max looked down at her hands and kept shifting as she asked her question. "How's Alec?"

"Worse then any case of PMS I have ever seen." Syl said glad to see a smile from Max. "Seriously though he's dealing. Not good but not bad."

Max softly nodded. "That's good and at least he has someone to talk to. Don't worry you don't have to tell me, I know nothing's going on. I was hard on you guys before. If you want to be with him hey it's your choice." She more then hated the thought of Alec with another woman and a woman she considered a sister but she thought maybe if he was with someone it could be better for the both of them.

"Not happening, trust me." Syl said. "He's the goofy roommate/friend type for me. I like him but not that way. He's a good friend."

Max silently agreed. Before she had taken that for granted but now facing the fact if they couldn't get help she'd lose him from her life. "Listen tell Cindy I'm sorry but I had to go. I'm not really up for this tonight." She said her goodbyes to Syl and left.

~*~

Joshua was fast becoming an internet pro. Max had stolen the equipment for him so he'd have something to do other then paint. Now he could interact with others without the risk of exposure. But she still liked to check in with him at least once a day to make sure there wasn't something he needed and also to talk. Sometimes it was just easier to open up to him rather then her other friends because he understood the Manticore madness.

She didn't want to go home and be alone; Joshua was always up for company. "Hey big fella where are you?" Max called out as she shut the front door behind her. She walked farther into the house and expected to find him lost in focus with his latest creation.

But instead she came face to face with Alec.

-

Isabelle A.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

"What are you doing here?" They asked in unison as they both took a few steps back while their bodies let them.

"I was sick of doing nothing so I came to use Josh's computer to see if I could find something." Alec answered first. He wouldn't look at her; instead he stared at the door behind her and envisioned himself running through it to escape the painful desires burning in his chest, only worsening by the minute.

"I just came to check on Joshua." Max held her hands in fists along her sides, her nails piercing her skin. She was trying to keep control and fight her feeling instead of either giving in or running; it was no way to live life.

"He's in the back room sleeping. You should go, right now just go."

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Max looked at him, straight into his hazel green eyes. They seemed to take control of her body, she didn't want to move but she was moving; closer to him. "Alec." Escaped her mouth in the same urgency he begged her to go.

All logic was gone, there was no little voice saying it was wrong to run before a mistake was made. The only voice around screamed in need for each other. To get to each other there were quick fast moves but once they were in each other's embrace, Max pinned between the nearest wall and Alec, every thing became slow.

Each touch was slow, to be remembered with each feel, each emotion. Her hands were lost under his t-shirt along his warm broad back; her dark orbs stared into his fiery green ones literally burning with passion.

Their lips hovered over each others, a tease that sent a mix of heat and pain through their needing bodies.

Alec's hand traveled up from her waist to her neck tilting her head back before his lips came crashing down on hers. The short moment of bliss their bodies felt was interrupted.

"Alec and Max get busy?" Joshua asked very confused.

Hearing his voice acted like cold water, they jumped away from each other. Alec walked straight out the door never looking back, if he did nothing would be able to stop him from having Max, not even White standing over them threatening to shoot.

For the first time she could remember Max felt her knees grow weak. So weak she had to sit before she fell. "It was a mistake." She tried to explain to Joshua as she sat on the near by chair.

"Because of Manticore feelings?"

Max nodded. "Yeah that's it." she said remembering she had told him what was going on, at least as much as they all knew. "Thanks for showing up when you did." She knew her true self was grateful but her body screamed in protest wishing he would've waited a few more minutes, an hour. Get over it! Her mind screamed, she looked at Joshua. "So what's going on?" she asked searching for a distraction.

~*~

"What did you do?" Syl asked. As soon as he walked though the door she sensed something was off, something had happened. The more she thought about it the only thing that could make him look so depressed lately was Max.

"Nothing." Alec sternly said. If you thought about it, it was really nothing, a kiss and some touching but in the long run really nothing. Nothing compared to what he wanted to do, what he would've done if Joshua never interrupted.

"Right." Syl said dragging out the word fully saying she didn't believe him. "Well I have some good news that should help you from doing 'nothing' again."

Alec began to have hope once more he wasn't doomed to suffer with the burning ache of need in his chest. "What is it?"

"A few other X-5's have been digging into this since it isn't ideal for everyone and our series were the only ones they infected since we were old enough. We finally got a hit, one of the doctors that worked on the study has been spotted in California. I offered to check it out since we're the closest." Syl explained.

"Have you told Max?"

"No I just got the call."

"Ok good then we go and pay the doc a visit."

"She'll be pissed if she finds out we didn't tell her."

"She'll get over, it's not like she can tag along right? We'll leave tomorrow morning."

~*~

Max drove around the city for hours hoping to gain some clarity, to forget what happened. The guilt was the worst part; if Logan ever found out he'd never understand. It was him, Logan, she wanted to be close to and spend time with. Alec only flooded her mind because of the sick ingenious that was Manticore. She tried to think of her time with Alec before the symptoms arose, tried to figure out what about him Manticore thought was perfect for her. It had to simply be DNA. The more she thought about it the more confused she became.

She was on her way home when her beeper went off. It was Logan 911, hope filled her chest. They were only working on finding a Manticore doctor and just maybe he finally found one.

-

Isabelle A.


End file.
